Hearing on dog's fate set for April

WATERVILLE, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — A district judge will decide next month if a dog named Dakota should be euthanized. This comes after Gov. LePage requested that the 4-year-old dog be pardoned.

Dakota was ordered to be put down by an Augusta District Court after allegedly escaping confinement and attacking a dog belonging to the same owner a second time.

The first fatal canine attack happened in February of last year while Dakota was living at his former owner's home. Prosecutors say she bit another dog in the neck. The dog survived and Dakota was taken to the Waterville Area Humane Society and adopted by a new owner.

Shelter officials say Dakota is a model animal, is playful and not vicious and had been mistreated by her previous owner.

The Kennebec County District Attorney says there was a court order prohibiting the adoption. She says the case is a matter of public safety and that the governor does not have legal authority under the Maine constitution to pardon an animal.

"My greatest wish is that [LePage] would be willing to hear from the victims in this case," said Maeghan Maloney. "I know it will impact the case, it would be impossible for anyone to hear what they went through."

Maloney says the dog's new owners and the victims all plan to testify at the hearing, which is scheduled for April 11 in Augusta District Court.